Titanic
The Titanic hit an iceberg on its maiden UK-USA trip. At midnight 15th Apr 1912 Cunard liner Carpathia received a message saying Titanic was sinking. Carpathia’s captain altered course and steamed towards the Titanic, 93 ks away, arriving at 4am. The Titanic lifeboats arrived at the Carpathia's side with the survivors. The captain ordered his ship to sail around the disaster hoping for more survivors, but no-one was found. Grief increased with realisation of the loss: 705 people lived & c1,500 died.
Survivors from the Titanic in a lifeboat.
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4 days later, as the Carpathia sailed into N.Y Harbour, passengers saw Manhattan’s skyscrapers and heard the mournful bells tolling. On the pier, thousands waited in silence.
For survivors, the pain reverberated throughout their lives. Disassociation was common, so over the years it was not surprising that at least 10 survivors suicided. Nowadays we'd call it PTSD.
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Newspaper coverage was everywhere, every day
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Even 1st Class survivors did not escape horror. 18-year-old Madeleine Astor was travelling with her rich husband, John Jacob Astor. Recently pregnant, she was returning from her European honeymoon when her husband drowned. Madeleine became a HUGE trust fund heir, as long as she was single. The young widow was grieving, until she decided to marry a man she’d long known. Despite their two babies, by 1932 Madeleine was comfortable financially but bored. And mentally disturbed by Titanic.
In Jan 1932 Madeleine met a handsome Italian prize fighter, Enzo Fiermonte who was infatuated by her wealth and, although both were already married, they embarked on a messy relationship. After their own Nov 1933 marriage, Enzo faced gaol regarding compulsory military service while Madeleine faced bigamy charges as Enzo wasn’t legally divorced. In May 1938 she filed divorce papers for extreme physical abuse. Worse, the boxer sold of their marriage story to the vulgar True Story magazine, damaging Madeleine. In Mar 1940 she overdosed at 47.
Wiki
4 days later, as the Carpathia sailed into N.Y Harbour, passengers saw Manhattan’s skyscrapers and heard the mournful bells tolling. On the pier, thousands waited in silence.
For survivors, the pain reverberated throughout their lives. Disassociation was common, so over the years it was not surprising that at least 10 survivors suicided. Nowadays we'd call it PTSD.
Even 1st Class survivors did not escape horror. 18-year-old Madeleine Astor was travelling with her rich husband, John Jacob Astor. Recently pregnant, she was returning from her European honeymoon when her husband drowned. Madeleine became a HUGE trust fund heir, as long as she was single. The young widow was grieving, until she decided to marry a man she’d long known. Despite their two babies, by 1932 Madeleine was comfortable financially but bored. And mentally disturbed by Titanic.
In Jan 1932 Madeleine met a handsome Italian prize fighter, Enzo Fiermonte who was infatuated by her wealth and, although both were already married, they embarked on a messy relationship. After their own Nov 1933 marriage, Enzo faced gaol regarding compulsory military service while Madeleine faced bigamy charges as Enzo wasn’t legally divorced. In May 1938 she filed divorce papers for extreme physical abuse. Worse, the boxer sold of their marriage story to the vulgar True Story magazine, damaging Madeleine. In Mar 1940 she overdosed at 47.
The Astors drove from their honeymoon to the Titanic
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17-year-old Jack Thayer, who'd been travelling in first-class with his parents, jumped over a rail at the last moment. The shock of the water forced him right down, yet he survived! Thayer lost his father in the disaster, and after returning to America with his survivor mother, resumed normal life. In 1913 he met a woman whom he married in 1917. 6 children were born, even when Thayer was fighting in France. He witnessed mass deaths in the war-front, but at home he remained silent. And silent about the Titanic. In 1937 Jack became Pennsylvania University’s treasurer and then financial vice-president. But in 1940, after writing his Titanic story, fragmented memories triggered a new wave of taunting nervous emotion. In Oct 1943, he found that his 22-year-old son, co-pilot of a bomber, was killed when they plunged into the Pacific. Then his mother died, on the exact date of the Titanic disaster. Thayer’s depression overwhelmed him and in Sept 1945, he slashed his throat.
Film star Dorothy Gibson survived the Titanic with her mother and immediately met her wealthy married lover film pioneer, Jules Brulatour. Her film of the disaster starred herself, filming beginning in New Jersey’s Fort Lee studio and aboard a derelict freighter in NY Harbour. Wearing the same silk evening dress she’d worn the night the ship went down, she seemed to lose her reason in the film, Saved from the Titanic. But Gibson wasn’t acting. She broke down on set because of her inability to reconcile her lived behaviour with her acting fantasy. While in the lifeboat, she’d apparently colluded in the refusal to rescue the dying. Soon after their wedding in July 1917, both sought divorce.
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17-year-old Jack Thayer, who'd been travelling in first-class with his parents, jumped over a rail at the last moment. The shock of the water forced him right down, yet he survived! Thayer lost his father in the disaster, and after returning to America with his survivor mother, resumed normal life. In 1913 he met a woman whom he married in 1917. 6 children were born, even when Thayer was fighting in France. He witnessed mass deaths in the war-front, but at home he remained silent. And silent about the Titanic. In 1937 Jack became Pennsylvania University’s treasurer and then financial vice-president. But in 1940, after writing his Titanic story, fragmented memories triggered a new wave of taunting nervous emotion. In Oct 1943, he found that his 22-year-old son, co-pilot of a bomber, was killed when they plunged into the Pacific. Then his mother died, on the exact date of the Titanic disaster. Thayer’s depression overwhelmed him and in Sept 1945, he slashed his throat.
Film star Dorothy Gibson survived the Titanic with her mother and immediately met her wealthy married lover film pioneer, Jules Brulatour. Her film of the disaster starred herself, filming beginning in New Jersey’s Fort Lee studio and aboard a derelict freighter in NY Harbour. Wearing the same silk evening dress she’d worn the night the ship went down, she seemed to lose her reason in the film, Saved from the Titanic. But Gibson wasn’t acting. She broke down on set because of her inability to reconcile her lived behaviour with her acting fantasy. While in the lifeboat, she’d apparently colluded in the refusal to rescue the dying. Soon after their wedding in July 1917, both sought divorce.
After Brulatour married an actress in 1923, Dorothy left US! Gibson was living the dream life.. until WW2! She and her mother, believing Hitler would win, signed themselves up with the Fascists. Gibson fell in love with Antonio Ramos, press attaché for the Spanish Embassy in Paris. Her mother idolised Mussolini and stayed in Florence. But when Germany invaded Holland and Belgium, why didn’t they return to the US? The Titanic was a factor. Still in Florence in 1944, Gibson tried to escape via the Swiss border. But she was arrested, taken to a Nazi camp then imprisoned at San Vittore. She eventually crossed into Switzerland, exhausted. Post-war Gibson suffered from extremely high blood pressure and survivor guilt, living in Paris and dying in Feb 1946
Six months after the Titanic sank in 1912, Annie Robinson, a stewardess on the Titanic, threw herself overboard from a steamship after hearing its foghorn blow in Boston Harbour.
Dr Washington Dodge shot himself in the head in 1919. Dodge was under investigation in a Watergate-type corruption probe. Strain over this litigation brought against him as the result of his connection with the Poulsen Wireless Co is said to have caused him to suicide.
Dr Henry William Frauenthal was big, and when he jumped into a Titanic lifeboat, he had smashed a woman passenger’s ribs when he landed. In Mar 1927 he suicided from a 7th floor hospital window.
Six months after the Titanic sank in 1912, Annie Robinson, a stewardess on the Titanic, threw herself overboard from a steamship after hearing its foghorn blow in Boston Harbour.
Dr Washington Dodge shot himself in the head in 1919. Dodge was under investigation in a Watergate-type corruption probe. Strain over this litigation brought against him as the result of his connection with the Poulsen Wireless Co is said to have caused him to suicide.
Dr Henry William Frauenthal was big, and when he jumped into a Titanic lifeboat, he had smashed a woman passenger’s ribs when he landed. In Mar 1927 he suicided from a 7th floor hospital window.
Juha Niskanen was a 3rd-class Titanic survivor en route from Finland to Boston. He moved to California to pan for gold but after failing to find gold in 1927, he set his cabin on fire and then killed himself.
Fred Fleet, sailor on the Titanic lookout
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Frederick Fleet was the lookout sailor when the Titanic struck the iceberg and warned the captain. Fleet returned to the sea and served on the Olympic etc before leaving ships in 1936. In Dec 1964 Fleet’s wife died and her brother, with whom they lived, threw Fleet out! The ex-sailor hanged himself in the garden.
John Morgan Davies’ death, by deliberate barbiturate overdose, was reported in Dec 1951 in Daily Mining Gazette. The paper stated that he died suddenly in Detroit Sunday morning, acknowledging his experience in surviving the Titanic disaster. And despondent over a divorce.
3-year-old Phyllis Jane Quick arrived home in Detroit after surviving the Titanic in Lifeboat 11 with her mother, Jane. Mum then travelled the country and told audiences of her family’s Titanic experiences. Phyllis grew up, married, had children and lived in the same place for 40 years. In 1954, at 45, she shot herself in the head.
Other travellers and crew who died may or may not have been from suicide. What a tragedy. Thank you to Stephen Spignesi and Andrew Wilson.
Wiki
Frederick Fleet was the lookout sailor when the Titanic struck the iceberg and warned the captain. Fleet returned to the sea and served on the Olympic etc before leaving ships in 1936. In Dec 1964 Fleet’s wife died and her brother, with whom they lived, threw Fleet out! The ex-sailor hanged himself in the garden.
John Morgan Davies’ death, by deliberate barbiturate overdose, was reported in Dec 1951 in Daily Mining Gazette. The paper stated that he died suddenly in Detroit Sunday morning, acknowledging his experience in surviving the Titanic disaster. And despondent over a divorce.
3-year-old Phyllis Jane Quick arrived home in Detroit after surviving the Titanic in Lifeboat 11 with her mother, Jane. Mum then travelled the country and told audiences of her family’s Titanic experiences. Phyllis grew up, married, had children and lived in the same place for 40 years. In 1954, at 45, she shot herself in the head.
Other travellers and crew who died may or may not have been from suicide. What a tragedy. Thank you to Stephen Spignesi and Andrew Wilson.